Sneak preview of Comcast war

The wheels are turning just as Comcast prepares to submit its deal. | AP Photo

Among those who also are talking to Public Knowledge and Cogent: the New America Foundation and the Writers Guild of America, West. Both have raised early red flags over the deal.

The New America Foundation, back in February, slammed Comcast’s latest transaction as an “unprecedented move to consolidate market power even further.” And the writers guild earlier this month filed a “position paper” that stressed that a combined Comcast-Time Warner Cable would give the company “far too much power over cable and Internet distribution.”

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SKDKnickerbocker, for its part, quickly distributed the guild’s statement to reporters. Beyond that, it’s also been sharing on the opposition’s unofficial Facebook and Twitter pages a series of critical posts — from Free Press infographics knocking the deal to journalists’ stories about its potential obstacles.

Netflix has been in some of those conversation, too, according to sources. Even after the company struck an agreement that ensures its movies and videos stream more seamlessly to Comcast subscribers, Netflix publicly slammed Comcast and the broader telecom industry for its continued consolidation. The video streaming giant hasn’t yet announced an outright opposition to the deal — and it wouldn’t comment for this story.

Meanwhile, Charter Communications, which once tried to buy Time Warner Cable, urged Friday that the company’s investors not back a Comcast merger, according to securities filings. DISH and DirecTV previously expressed early reservations about the deal, but the two companies also reportedly are weighing a combination of their own. And TheBlaze TV — the independent programmer started by Glenn Beck — last week registered a lobbyist to focus on “program carriage” issues. It didn’t mention Comcast in its official filing, but the channel already has expressed fears that a merger might threaten its transmission.

The American Cable Association similarly has aired concerns with the Time Warner Cable deal, even if it hasn’t yet officially opposed it. But ACA has not been formally approached about forming a coalition, said President and CEO Matthew Polka. He said most groups, for now, are “just waiting for the application to be filed by the companies; then we’ll start digging into it.” But Polka also noted that ACA has had a few “casual” conversations with consumer groups, even if it’s “not involved in anything formal right now.”

ACA previously expressed its fears that Comcast, which already owns NBC, would gain too much power through the purchase of Time Warner Cable. The deal would “vastly increase the number of cable homes served by an operator affiliated with [NBCUniversal’s] popular programming, creating new incentives for NBCU to demand unfair terms and conditions from TWC’s pay-TV distribution rival,” the group said last month.

Comcast “may have lobbyists and seemingly unlimited resources, but they don’t have consumer trust,” said Sarah Morris, senior policy counsel for the Open Technology Institute at New America Foundation. “By harnessing a small but mighty team of committed consumer advocates and allies, we hope to stand up for what consumers deserve — a robust, competitive communications market.”